Spirit Island

Spirit Island

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Spirit Guides - Winning With Every Spirit
By Kalen Noreth
A brief primer on winning solo games with each core game spirit, including suggested growth orders. Helpful for unlocking The First Spirits Rise achievement.
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Introduction
So you want to branch out and try new spirits, but it still isn't clicking? The tips and growth orders below should help set you up for success at winning solo with each spirit. HOWEVER, if your only goal is to unlock The First Spirits Rise achievement, some spirits (especially Ocean) will do better by playing them in a 2-4 spirit game. Any feedback is appreciated, let me know in the comments below how things work for you!
Lightning's Swift Strike
- Innate power is good at all levels, but requires cards beyond starting ones to use at highest level.
- Sometimes you want to play fewer cards than you have plays to set up a big turn with your innate power.
- Sacred sites are very important for your innate and also Shatter Homesteads, so try to maintain 2-3 of them.
- A big turn with 4-5 card plays will usually cost 6+ energy, so be sure to keep an eye on what you're spending.

Suggested starting growth order:
1) 2 presence from energy track
2) 1 presence from card play track, +3 energy
3) Reclaim cards, gain minor power
4) 2 presence from energy track OR 1 presence from card play track, +3 energy
5) Reclaim cards, gain minor/major power
River Surges in Sunlight
- Innate power only requires starting cards.
- Cards are cheap and two of them give you energy, so try to play presence from the card plays track as quickly as possible.
- Don't be afraid to concentrate invaders into one land, especially on the coast. Your innate at max power will wipe them out easily, especially combined with Flash Floods for those pesky cities.

Suggested starting growth order:
1) 2 presence from card play track
2) 2 presence from card play track
3) Reclaim cards, gain minor power
4) Either 2 presence or 1 presence, gain minor power (presence from card play track to enable full strength innate power)
5) Reclaim cards, gain minor/major power
Vital Strength of the Earth
- Your innate power will probably not come up a lot until late in the game, as it is very hard to get the card plays/elements to use it. Copying Rituals of Destruction to deal 10 damage late, however? Really good for ending the game.
- Dahan are VERY important. You want to keep them alive and fighting, as well as working towards grouping three of them in lands with lots of invaders.
- Remember that gathering an explorer to prevent a build is equivalent to destroying a town. Preventing builds where you don't have Dahan and/or presence discs is important to avoid getting overrun in the late game.

Suggested starting growth order:
1) Presence from card play track, 2 energy
2) Presence from card play track, 2 energy
3) Presence from energy track, reclaim cards
4) Presence from either track, gain minor power
5) Any growth option, based on choice in (4) and needs
Shadows Flicker Like Flame
- Innate power is good, but tricky to max out. Some specific power cards can help: Lure of the Unknown, Visions of Fiery Doom, Quicken the Earth's Struggles, Shadows of the Burning Forest, Elemental Boon, Land of Haunts and Embers (basically, cards with moon and fire element).
- Favors Called Due + Concealing Shadows is a good way to take out invader heavy lands, albeit while still allowing blight.
- Energy can be tight early on, and you can't play more than one presence a turn. Be careful what you spend and don't be afraid to put off gaining new powers or sacrifice presence discs to play Concealing Shadows.

Suggested starting growth order:
1) 3 energy, presence from card play track
2) 3 energy, presence from card play track
3) Reclaim cards, gain minor power
4) 3 energy, presence from card play track
5) Reclaim cards, gain minor/major power
Thunderspeaker
- Both your innate powers are good, and fairly easy to trigger. Getting presence off your energy track exposes elements that you can use every turn, saving you card plays and enabling fast-moving Dahan armies.
- Protect your Dahan! Losing them loses you a lot of flexibility as well as potentially costing you presence discs.

Suggested starting growth order:
1) 2 presence from energy track
2) 2 presence from energy track (giving you permanent air, fire, and sun)
3) 2 presence, one from each track
4) Reclaim cards, gain minor power, gain minor/major power
5) 2 presence from card plays track
A Spread of Rampant Green
- Your damage innate doesn't do anything on its own at the lowest level, so try to pair it with cards that deal damage to structures. Your defend innate is incredibly useful, although there will likely be turns that you can trigger it with nothing to defend. 2 defend stops an explorer + town, and 4 defend stops a town + city.
- Sacrificing presence discs to stop builds and ravages in incredibly useful. Stopping a town/city from being built is often as good or better than destroying one!
- With two cards that let you play extra presence (in solo games), you will empty your presence tracks in most games. Note that your ability to play destroyed presence only applies to your growth phase, not your power cards, making two of your starting powers a lot less useful in the late game (they still give elements, though, and one can switch to creating fear).

Suggested starting growth order*:
1) 2 presence from energy track, extra card play
2) 2 presence from energy track, extra card play
3) 1 presence from energy track (if possible/needed), reclaim cards, gain minor power
4) 2 presence from either track, extra card play
5) 2 presence from either track, extra card play

*Because you will almost certainly be placing some presence through card plays, this spirit allows for a lot more flexibility in growth. Focus on the energy track first for the double plant elements, but take these suggestions with an extra grain of salt.
Ocean's Hungry Grasp
- Your innate powers are amazing for fear and controlling the coastal lands. You can theoretically drown a city as early as the second turn, and probably should unless there are inland invaders that can't be ignored.
- Dealing with inland invaders is an utter pain, and will likely require major powers. Luckily, drowning coastal invaders provides a lot of energy.
- Forgetting powers from your discard pile really helps you put off reclaiming cards. Gain minor power, play it, forget it to gain major power is a good sequence.
- This spirit is really tricky in solo play, look for powers that have range 2-3 even if they put down blight. A lot of your powers specify "coastal", so Reaching Grasp is a bit of a trap; it's mostly helpful for boosting range 0-1 major powers and not your starting or innate powers.

Suggested starting growth order, inland invaders need addressing:
1) 2 presence from energy track
2) 1 presence from card play track, gain minor power
3) 1 presence from energy track, gain major power
4) Reclaim cards, gain minor power
5) 1 presence from energy track, gain major power

Suggested starting growth order, inland invaders can be let be:
1) 2 presence from energy track
2) 2 presence, 1 from card play track, 1 from energy track
3) 1 presence from either track, gain minor power
4) Reclaim cards, gain minor/major power
5) 1 presence from either track, gain minor/major power
Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares
- Innate powers cause fear, which is made significantly more important by your starting power which produces defense whenever you cause fear. Note that you need to have a disc in a land with invaders to generate the fear, so be sure to stay close and personal.
- As long as you are getting presence discs off of your energy track, growth is pretty flexible. The reclaim one growth option is really nice if you need to make a sacred site and want to get an extra turn in before reclaiming all cards.
- Dahan are very useful for keeping the invaders under control. Try to protect them and clear inland towns to help prevent explores.

Suggested starting growth order:
1) Presence from energy track, gain minor power or 2 energy (if you need to jump across the board)
2) Presence from energy track, gain minor power or reclaim one
3) Presence from energy track, gain minor power or reclaim one
4) Reclaim cards, gain minor/major power
Heart of the Wildfire
- So much damage! Placing presence is your strongest weapon, so do that as much as possible. Cheap minor powers will help you stay active without having to reclaim for longer.
- Starting cards and your first innate have some targeting limitations that can be aggravating, but get much more usable as the game progresses.
- Try not to let the invaders ravage, as you will be throwing tons of blight and damage around, and cascades are NOT your friend.

Suggested starting growth order:
1) Presence from play track, gain energy
2) Presence from energy track, gain minor power
3) Presence from play track, gain minor power (if you can afford it, otherwise energy)
4) Presence from either track, gain minor power (if you can afford it, otherwise energy)
5) Reclaim if there's anything other than blight left on the board.
Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island
-to add-
Sharp Fangs Behind the Leaves
- Ranging Hunt (your first innate) is really good once you can start stacking beast tokens. Always remember you can add an extra beast by converting presence; you will want to do this often.
- You really want to find powers that enable Ranging Hunt, so Animal and Plant element are important.
- Avoid playing on board C unless you want a more challenging game, as your starting presence and extra beast will end up in a single jungle.

Suggested starting growth order:
1) Presence from play track, gain minor power
2) Presence from play track, gain 3 energy
3) Presence from play track, reclaim/gain minor power
4) Presence from play track, gain 3 energy
Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds
-to add-
12 Comments
Clayton-214 11 Jul @ 11:26am 
This achievement appears to be bugged. I have won with each of these spirits multiple times and it still hasn't given me the achievement.
TheoreticalString 5 Apr, 2024 @ 8:27pm 
If anyone has the minor that grants you elements, proliferate yourself and one other person, otherwise spread out the presence you're taking to give more spirits +1 energy. If you can start proliferating at this point you will go off way faster. If Rampant green can speed this up you can go off way faster. But Aegis can stop blight against anyone who isn't Sweden pretty much.

T5: Reclaim, add presence. Play Absorb, Elemental Aegis. (6 defend)
T6: Reclaim, add presence. Play Absorb, Aegis. (7 defend)
T7: Reclaim, add Presence. Play Aegis, Plant/earth card.
Left innate is now on level 2, you and two other players can proliferate.

T8: You now have 6 energy and 4 card plays a turn. You should have banked a pile of energy. Draft a major, use it. If you can trigger Serpent Wakes to gain another one. Smash shit.
TheoreticalString 5 Apr, 2024 @ 8:26pm 
Serpent advice, by far the best opening:
T1 Presence, gain a minor (look for Stone/Plant). Bottom track. Play the card that lets someone gain a minor.
T2, Presence, +4 energy. Bottom track. Play Absorb Essence, Elemental Aegis. Aegis hits every land that's adjacent, so you can cover both lands on your board that are ravaging 90% of the time.

Right innate is now online (2 earth/moon) so from here on out you'll be pushing a town and generating 2 fear.

T3: Reclaim, move presence, add presence. Top track. Play Absorb, Elemental (4 defend)
Innates: FFEE is online, so now you can kill a town and push a town (in the same land). With presence placement, you can stop anyone from overwhelming your Aegis defend amount easy.

T4: Reclaim, add presence. Play Absorb, Elemental. Top track. (5 defend)
Left innate is now online, everyone you absorb is gaining +1 energy every turn.
reamonntiu 19 Nov, 2023 @ 5:30am 
Thanks man, can't wait for the Serpent and Keeper guide
Racheecha 31 Jul, 2022 @ 10:46pm 
I have spent like 10 hours just playing Thunderspeaker alone in addition to tons of games as TS on the normal board with friends. At higher difficulties you want to play far more reactive, but on any difficulty that is reasonable/isn't Sweden you can basically just do...

Turn 1: +3 energy, 1 presence, take from bottom track, only play your 2 energy card.
Turn 2: +2 presence, take from bottom track, play your remaining cards,
Turn 3: Reclaim, you should be set to sweep things if you positioned right. Take low-cost dahan-centric cards. Elements are great but you really just want valuable low-costs.

Your multiplicative damage card is basically just a major power in your starting hand, so playing it as effectively as often as you can is vital.
WolfRowland92 10 Oct, 2021 @ 4:59pm 
my advice for serpent would be jump down the play track until you can get two card plays then every turn your gonna wanna play both gifts and most usually aegis but if gift of primordial deeps nabs you a defense card that covers defense that turn use absorb essence, note at most in a solo game you need to use this 3 times to hit max presence placement so after the third drop it for a major.
turn 1 presence from card play track and gain 4 energy, absorb presence
turn two 1 presence from card play track and 4 energy, both gifts hitting aegis
turn 3+ 1 presence from any track and reclaim, both gifts.
emeramber 18 Sep, 2021 @ 10:29pm 
My standard path for Lightning is actually 2 from energy 1st turn, NO card play. 2 from play 2nd turn, and the cheapest three cards. If there's ever another turn I can get away with it, add more presence, but otherwise reclaim and get a new minor every turn, preferably cheap and with fire and air. I didn't invent this, and probably would have never thought to skip a full turn of play, but it's usually well worth it.
snarkherder 6 Mar, 2021 @ 4:11pm 
For Serpent, I dive down the card play track until I have 2 card plays, then down the energy track until I get Reclaim One. Once there, Water then Earth, and after that, it should be an easy win.

General strategy to get there is to place presence using the fourth growth option, adjacent to as many locations that are going to see a build this turn as possible. Keep using/reclaiming Aegis, and absorb presence as necessary to keep putting presence on the board (sometimes it is ok letting a land get blighted so you won't hit the max for another turn).

Serpent is my favorite spirit so far - if I have missed anything or if there is a better way to build this one up, let me know!
Kalen Noreth  [author] 15 Dec, 2020 @ 5:25pm 
@Razzle and @wcalderw, glad you liked it! I haven't played enough solo wild fire and serpent yet to try and write anything up, but I'll see what I can do.

@Obluda, that's a good point. I've found I like to get major powers relatively late, and haven't practiced playing with early majors much. As above, if I can get some practice in on doing it, I will try to add it into the guide. Thank you for the feedback!
Obluda 12 Dec, 2020 @ 9:57am 
Most of these are pretty reasonable (though Ocean/Thunderspeaker/Green I'm less familiar with), but reading these you'd think that early major powers isn't an option for any Spirits.

Going down Card Plays early on Vital Strength is often worse than going down Energy and fishing for Majors earlier. Your suggested growth order for Earth doesn't even have them getting a major at all in the first 5 turns. Shadows is more flexible, but going Energy + Majors early is a very viable route for that spirit.

In fact, it's striking that outside of Ocean for Inland Invaders, you nowhere suggest gaining major powers specifically, even for *Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares* who has a starting carding that makes getting a major power a great early play!